SAULT STE. MARIE -- Playing at Lake Superior State University on Sunday (Oct. 1) in a GLIAC matchup, the Saginaw Valley State University Women's Tennis team finished the weekend strong with an 8-1 victory over the Lakers. The Cards claimed all three doubles matchups before taking five of the six singles contests, claiming the win.

The win pushes SVSU's overall record to 4-1 on the 2017 season with an unblemished mark of 4-0 in the GLIAC.

Doubles

The No. 1 Doubles team of Shea Donahue and Taylor McLaughlin broke serve late in the match, registering an 8-6 decision over their opponents. At No. 2 and No. 3 Doubles, each duo remained unbeaten in conference play after their respective victories over the Lakers on Sunday. Madeline Miller and Danielle Slonac had a dominating performance, turning in an 8-1 win over their Laker opponents. Joanne Gao and Maya Campbell followed suit with an impressive performance, claiming an 8-5 win at the No. 3 slot to give the squad a 3-0 lead leading into singles competition.

Singles

Donahue fell to a tough LSSU opponent at the No. 1 spot to begin singles play, but that was the only point the visitors would drop to LSSU.

McLaughlin claimed the fourth team point of the match with her 6-1, 6-4 victory at the No. 4 singles spot. Miller then posted the fifth and clinching point for SV, impressing with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win. She was down 2-5 in the opening set and came back to get the win. That win kept her unbeaten on the weekend and in league play in both singles and doubles competition.

In the No. 3 singles spot, Gao had a stellar comeback effort as well, eventually getting a three-set victory. She droped the opener by a score of 1-6, responding to take the final two by scores of 6-4, 6-4 in what was a lengthy matchup.

Slonac and Campbell rounded-out the match's scoring at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively. They disposed of their Laker opponents by identical counts of 6-0, 6-2 to finish the team's scoring and further cement the victory.

From Head Coach Jenn Boehm

"I could not be more proud of this group of young women. In the last 48 hours they have been pushed to the limits mentally, physically, and emotionally. Today was a different kind of test than the Michigan Tech match. We knew we were the stronger and more prepared team, however we were really tested psychologically throughout the match. We handled it with integrity, grit, and the confidence that comes from battling in the trenches with your teammates. We are at the point where we are welcoming tough challenges and situations and look forward to proving that we can overcome them together. All weekend we represented SVSU with integrity and played like champions. Top that off with being 4-0 in the GLIAC and I simply could not ask for anything more. I also have to give a special shout out to our SVSU Tennis families. We had five sets of parents and a sibling travel with us across the U.P. for the entire weekend of matches. Their presence and support created an unbelievable home environment for us, which was a huge advantage when things got tough. We can't wait to get back on our own courts this weekend for the next chapter of our journey against three very tough GLIAC teams. Hopefully we can get a great crowd out at the SVSU Tennis Complex!"

Up Next...

The Cardinals host three matches this weekend, beginning on Friday (Oct. 6) with a noon match versus Wayne State University. SVSU then hosts Ashland on Saturday (10 am) and Tiffin on Sunday (10 am).